| References | Corticotropin-releasing factor or hormone (CRF, CRH) is part of a family of related peptides including the urotensins-I (UI), sauvagine and urocortin in vertebrates, and the diuretic peptides present in insects. Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), urotensin-I, urocortin and sauvagine belong to a family of related neuropeptides found throughout chordate taxa and likely stem from an ancestral peptide precursor early in metazoan ancestry. In vertebrates, current evidence suggests that CRF on one hand, and urotensin-I, urocortin and sauvagine, on the other, form paralogous lineages. Urocortin and sauvagine appear to represent tetrapod orthologues of fish urotensin-I. Sauvagine's unique structure may reflect the distinctly derived evolutionary history of the anura and the amphibia in general. Evolution and Physiology of the Corticotropin-Releasing Factor (CRF) Family of Neuropeptides in Vertebrates In Alzheimer's disease, unaltered numbers of CRH neurons are stimulated to produce more mRNA of CRH and may, therefore, show greater CRH turnover, whereas in depression, more neurons are recruited to produce CRH and vasopressin. Increased vasopressin production in CRH neurons increases the power of the HPA system, since vasopressin strongly potentiates the ACTH-releasing activity of CRH. Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone mRNA Levels in the Paraventricular Nucleus of Patients With Alzheimer's Disease and Depression |
